'Partial' relief for UP farmers, BJP forced to see reason: Rahul Gandhi

With Uttar Pradesh Government waiving off Rs 36,359-crore loan for the state's farmers, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi expressed his happiness over the development saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has finally seen reason, but also called on the Centre to not discriminate amongst states.

In a series of tweets, Rahul said that the step was a 'partial' relief for UP farmers but a step in the right direction nevertheless, adding that the Congress supported loan waivers for farmers in distress.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray once again demanded a loan waiver for farmers in the state, as he congratulated Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for writing off loans of over 2 point 15 crore farmers totalling to 36,359 crore rupees.

While congratulating Adityanath for taking the decision in his very first cabinet meeting, Thackeray also took an indirect swipe at the BJP.

Thackeray said that Yogi Adityanath has shown that promises are not mere poll slogans for him, but posed a question asking if there can be a loan waiver in the country's biggest state, why should a pro-agriculture state like Maharashtra be left behind.

Thackeray said the maximum number of farmer suicides take place in Maharashtra, with indebtedness being one of the main reasons.

But Samajwadi Party president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was not impressed by the development.

A promise of complete loan waiver was made to the farmers, he said. "Millions of farmers were feeling cheated with the ceiling of Rs 1 lakh.